Working with minors
by Mrs. Owl 09
Summary: As a collage student, Lucas was interesting in honing his skills as a hacker. Too bad he got caught. Maybe he'll learn a few life lessons in the process. Pre-ship SeaQuest, after the first movie Ironman. A bit of cursing.


**Author's Note: So one of my favorite movies is Ironman, and as you know, my obsession is SeaQuest. So, why not combine them? I don't think there any kind year ever mentioned in Ironman so no weird time travel stuff in this. Just a pre-ship Lucas getting in a bit of trouble. Takes place a bit after the end of Ironman 1. I hope you enjoy it! **

* * *

The two imposing and dark suited men all but dragged the young blonde teen from his class room. They had come in with a member of campus security and spoken in hushed tones to the professor, who then pointed out the boy sitting by himself in the back row. His classmates watching in shock and mild amusement as the younger, dark skin man picked up the youth's backpack and swung it on his shoulder.

He was pulled to his feet and guided out of the building by a firm hand on his shoulder, without comment. The boy himself was too surprised to argue or fight.

He was brought outside and directed to a very nice, very big, and very blacked out stretch limo. This was when he started to panic, and as a result, start to pull away from the older white male's grip on his shoulder. The man also clamped down on an arm and sighed, "relax Mr. Wolenczak, we're the good guys."

"Yeah, right, guys who take pull a student out of a lecture hall without identifying themselves are always have the best of intentions." Lucas snapped, trying to peel the man's fingers loose.

"Would it help if we showed you some identification?" The other man asked gently, pulling the limo door open.

Lucas snorted derisively while shooting a look around for someone to help him. No one was even watching or close enough to offer aid, not that they would bother. It seemed the men choose the perfect time to take him. "That shit can be made by anyone, I should know."

The men laughed and pushed him toward the open door of vehicle. "We're aware."

Lucas climbed into the backwards facing seat and glared at them. "Look, just tell me what this is about. It doesn't look like you need money, and holding me for ransom is just going to be a pain in the ass. Good luck calling my parents, no one else can ever get through." He informed bitterly.

The older man raised an eyebrow, and pulled a leather id case from his wallet. Without a word, he passed it to the boy. Lucas took it, and inspected it closely. He gasped in amazement, and some fear. "This is real."

"It is." The agent smiled kindly, and took his case back.

"I... I never hacked you guys. It wasn't me, I'm not crazy." He quickly defended himself.

The agent chuckled, and flashed another warm smile. "We already know you did, Lucas."

The teen paled and swallowed quickly. "How much trouble am I in?"

He shrugged, "you got farther than anyone else, but you just looked. That's commendable. It made us take notice. You're very good at what you do."

"Not good enough apparently." Lucas said dryly.

The agent nodded, "you need some training, and perhaps some tools."

"Training? Um, I know I'm in collage and everything but I'm only fourteen. I don't think I'm old enough to join you guys. Not that it wouldn't be awesome." He quickly added. Lucas glanced through the dark windows. "We aren't going anywhere."

"We aren't kidnapping you, we just wanted to talk. If you're interested in what we have to say, we'll go." He sat back and folded his hand together. "And it isn't for us, I'm doing this as a favor to someone."

"Who?"

The agent sighed, and rolled his eyes. "I'm not supposed to say, he... he has a flair for the dramatic."

"What about school?"

"Your professors have been informed you'll be taking a brief hiatus. They agreed, as long as you keep up with your homework. It'll only be for couple of days at the most."

Lucas snorted, "they just want me out of their hair."

The agent narrowed his eyes at the comment as the other shifted uncomfortably. "So, is that a yes?"

"Yeah, show me what you got."

After pushing a button on the console, the dark privacy glass slid down, revealing a driver. "Take us to the airport, Tyler."

The driver nodded, "should I call him, Agent Coulson?"

"Don't bother, he already said there was no way we'd be turned down. I want him to stew for a few hours. Maybe knock him down a few pegs."

The driver snorted, "yeah, right."

* * *

They reached the airfield, and the agents lead Lucas to a private jet. "No security to go through? Nice."

The younger man, who had introduced himself as Agent Jasper Sitwell chuckled, "we're your security, and that." He pointed to a biometric scanner on the side of the doorway.

Coulson leaned in, and a small screen flickered across his open eye. "See? Even you can't get past that." He grinned over his shoulder.

Lucas flashed his own smirk, "give me ten minutes, I'll have it accepting a teddy bear's eye."

He heard a snicker behind him, and Lucas turned to see Jasper laughing. "Why hack it? You just need the eyeball."

"Thank you Sitwell, that's enough." Agent Coulson chided him quietly.

"Whoa, dude, dark." Lucas added with wide eyes.

In order to loosen the tension after Jasper's gaffe, they entered the plush airplane. Lucas slid into one of the seat and immediately started fiddling with the vid screen in front of him. "Hey, can I use this? It'd be great to make a few prank calls. I bet no one could trace it from here."

Agent Coulson rolled his eyes, "please don't. After we get to our destination I'm sure you two will be able to find your own trouble. For now, you're my responsibility. I'd rather you didn't cause trouble."

"Yeah, you everyone else," came the petulant reply.

The tone caught the older man's attention and it frustrated him. He got up from his seat across the aisle and leaned over the teen. "May I?" He nodded to the vacant spot next to him.

"Yeah, sure." He shrugged, still playing with the screen.

"Ok," he continued, after getting comfortable. "What's with you? Why all the bitterness?"

Lucas' head snapped around, but he lowered his startled face almost as fast. "Nothing, I'm fine."

"Nah, you're pissed off. And why wouldn't you be? You're off on some crazy adventure in a first class jet that has amenities Shield can't even get without begging. It's a total bummer." Coulson saw the blue eyes flicker his way for a moment. "I'd tell you what they are, but you'll figure it out, and he'd pout for a month if I spoiled the surprise."

"Back there," Lucas mumbled, "in the lecture hall and on campus. You practically kidnapped me, and no one cared. They laughed, you could be crazed murders, and... they let just me go with you."

Coulson pursed his lips and leaned back in the seat. "If I point out that we had credentials and were with security, it won't help will it?" An irritated scowl was his answer. "Yeah, didn't think so. Look, uh... Where we're going, I understand why he wants to talk to you. He can help."

"Help what?" Lucas snapped defensively. "I'm fine. I don't need any of them." He undid his seatbelt and stalked to back of the plan, where he slumped in a seat and glared out the window.

Coulson sighed after he left, "I hope you know what you're doing, Tony. He might be more stubborn than you."

* * *

The plane landed smoothly in a private air field outside of the city. Lucas peered out the window at the skyline. "New York? This isn't some bizarre plan to get me to hang out my dad, is it? I'm not even sure where he is right now."

"No," Coulson shook his head, "not at all, but you can visit him if you like."

"Not interested." Lucas snorted, shouldering his backpack after taking it from Sitwell.

Another black limo was waiting for them outside, a large man with an easy smile held the door open. "Hello Mr. Wolenczak, I'll be taking over from here. Is there anything you need before we leave?"

"Nah, I'm good, and call me Lucas." He turned to the two agents, "you're not coming?"

"We'll be around, but we have some other business to attend to." Coulson fished a card from his pocket. "But you need something, or even just want to talk, give me a call."

He studied the card for a few moments, "thanks man, I really mean it. But I can just get into your computer and talk to you that way too." Lucas smirked mischievously.

"Yeah, I know." Coulson retorted dryly. "But if you call me, no scary people will show up at your door."

"Point taken," Lucas muttered climbing into the limo.

Happy closed the door behind him, glancing at the agents. "Any idea what this is about? He told the kid's background, but he's being very secretive everything else."

"He just wants to talk to him, I'm guessing he sees himself in that boy. Maybe it'll do them both some good." Coulson glanced through the darkened windows to see the teen already trying to use the small tablet computer in the car. "With skills like that, and no guidance, he could go bad very quickly."

* * *

Lucas tried to see the buildings around him to get a hint as where he was, but they passed too quickly, and soon they were pulling into a very well maintained parking garage. Beautiful antique sports cars caught his eye, and Lucas let out a low whistle. "Damn… someone has a hobby, and money." He glanced through the open divider, "and this still isn't some freaky kidnapping thing, right?"

"No," his driver laughed, "but you might not want to leave. From what I've heard of you, this is your prefect playground."

He was out of the door before the car fully came to a stop. Chuckling, Happy joined him. A voice echoed through the parking structure. "Welcome Mr. Wolenczak, he is waiting for you in his shop."

"Who was that?" Lucas looked around for the speaker, but didn't see anyone else in the brightly lit space.

"I am Jarvis." The voice answered him. "My official designation is Just A Rather Very Intelligent System."

"You're a computer," he whispered.

"Yes, and we've met."

Lucas whipped around to stare at Happy with an open mouth. "No way… no freaking way! Really?"

The man couldn't help laughing at the stunned boy. "Yup, he wants to meet you."

"This is Stark Tower, right? Like Tony Stark… as in Ironman? The real one?" Questions flooded Lucas' mind so rapidly, he couldn't voice them all. "He's not pissed, is he?"

"He was impressed, Mr. Wolenczak." Jarvis answered before Happy could. "And he hates to be kept waiting."

Happy took the not so subtle hint and guided Lucas along with a hand on his back. It was hardly needed though, as he practically ran through the garage. They came to a stop in front of a glass door, and Lucas could see someone inside welding a piece of metal. Happy pressed in a code and door hissed open.

Inside, Tony lifted his protective mask. He clicked off the welder, and smirked at the amazed face in front of him. "I never get sick of that expression."

"So modest." Happy snorted, escorting Lucas into the room.

"Not one of my many talents." Tony returned playfully. "But this young man," he raised an eyebrow, "the simple fact that you didn't leave a tag after you hacked Jarvis, shows that you do have some."

Lucas shrugged and glanced at the floor. "I didn't really feel the need. I was just curious."

"Good, keep that curiosity. Always keep going, that's what makes a good scientist. Just learn how to cover your tracks next time." Tony stripped off his gloves and crossed the room to a wet bar. "Scotch?"

"Um… no thanks." Lucas replied with wide eyes.

He nodded, "you're probably right, it's a little early. Oh well… champagne?"

Lucas smiled ruefully, "you know I'm only fourteen, right?"

"Ah, I forgot. There's a reason Pepper tells me I shouldn't work with minors. But, your work is pretty advanced for your age, you might not count. I actually thought Jarvis made a mistake after he traced your IP." He cocked his head towards the ceiling, waiting for the response.

He was not disappointed. "I do not make mistakes," came the indignant voice.

"First piece of advice kid, if you program anything with AI, don't give it an attitude, or let it developed one. It'll just be a pain in the ass." Tony poured himself a drink and sipped while waiting again.

"My attitude is extrapolated from your own, sir. I believed it would help us communicate better." Jarvis replied, now in a rather snooty voice.

A feeling of irritation flickered through Lucas, despite the humorous exchange. He glanced back towards Happy, but saw the man had quietly left. "Is this what this is about? You want to tell me everything I did wrong?"

Tony set down his glass and snorted, "no, not really. Look kid, I did some of my own digging after you broke in." Lucas opened his mouth to snarl, but a raised hand stopped him. "Turnabout is fair play. Like you, I was just looking. What I didn't find bothered me, to be honest."

"What you _didn't_ find?"

"No emails from your family, very few from friends. Everything on your drive was school related, or things other people asked you to help them with." He leaned on the table between them, playing with his tumbler glass. "You need to do something for fun. Only working will just make you hate it after a while."

"Hacking is fun." Lucas muttered, scuffing the toe of his sneaker on the floor.

"Does hacking get you friends?"

He turned away from him, not willing to make eye contact, and crossed his arms. "I have a few."

"Ok, and your folks? Why don't you talk to them?" Tony prodded recklessly.

"They're busy." He whispered with a shrug, turning back with an angry expression. "Is this going to turn into some stupid counseling session?"

Tony shook his head, "not really. I just know how easy it is to fall into the wrong crowd when you have talents. I hoped to give you some advice, as strange as it is for me."

He circled the table and rested his hands on Lucas' shoulders, looking deep into his eyes. "Look, there will always be people after you, kid, remember that. And there will more people who hate you because they know what you can do and can become. I know that sounds bad, but don't worry, you'll find people you can trust, and when you do, hold onto them."

Struggling to control the tears that threatened, Lucas cleared his throat. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course. You aren't the first smart person to have issues with their parents or finding friends. It comes with the territory. They don't know how to interact with you."

Lucas glanced away, feeling uncomfortable with the prolonged contact. "How do I fix it?"

Tony shrugged, and dropped his arms. "You don't, it's their issue, not yours. And," he paused thoughtfully, "that just means that the people who make an effort to understand you are worth that much more."

"Ok," Lucas nodded after a few moments. "So, what's next?"

"Next?"

He flashed a grin, "you didn't fly here just to tell me everything will be ok."

"Want to learn a few new tricks?" Tony grinned back.

"Like you can teach me anything I don't already know." Lucas challenged, his blue eyes flashing with excitement.

Tony snorted, "maybe I wrong about the modesty. But, I can teach you how to get past watchdogs without setting them off. Then how to run a foolproof sweeper to cover your tracks."

"You didn't have watchdogs," Lucas noted.

"Just because you didn't see them, doesn't mean they weren't there. How do you think I knew you had been in my system?" Tony walked to the table and made some motions in the air. A holographically projected picture appeared, and he started opening programs.

Lucas was transfixed by the sight, "whoa… very cool."

"It is, isn't it?" Tony continued working, and after a minute, stepped to the side. "Ok, I set up an obstacle course for you. See if you can get through without setting off any alarms."

For the next several minutes, Tony watched him. He had to stop himself from interfering a few times when Lucas got close to one of the traps his had set. But, to his surprise, Lucas smoothly got through it all. With a self-satisfied smirk, he defeated the final firewall. "How was that?"

"Impressive. But now," he waved the files away, and brought up new ones. "I can see everywhere you went. This is a sweeper, it'll easy to make a basic one. But, depending on where you want to go, you'll need one that can't be broken, like this one."

Lucas delved into the programming, and quickly memorized the style. "Ok, I can do that. It seems simple enough."

"Simple?" Tony raised an eyebrow, "_simple_ he says. It took me a month to make that."

"It's easier for a young brain to learn new things." Lucas teased, "here, you can actually improve the speed if you do this." His fingers flew across the spectral looking keyboard. "You don't need those algorithms, they're just clogging up the program." He flicked away the offending file.

"Hey, that was extra security!" Tony argued, trying to watch what he doing.

"Right, _extra_, if your original security is good enough, you don't need it."

Tony crossed his arms, and scowled, "_if_ it's good enough."

"After this it will be." Lucas entered in a new command and closed the system. "Is the obstacle course self-randomizing?"

"Of course it is."

Lucas nodded, and started it again. "Ok," he announced, a short time later, "I'm done."

"You can't be." Tony sputtered. "It took you twice as long last time." He pushed himself into Lucas' position. "And you got into the trigger areas I set up. What did you do to my dogs?"

"I muzzled them."

"I can't find any trace of you." He grumbled in reply. "I set this up to track your every move, even with the sweeper I designed, what did you do to it?"

Lucas smirked, "your sweeper had some good bones, I just made the package a little nicer."

"If only I could sell this…" Tony started to muse.

"You won't though, will you?" Lucas looked at him anxiously. "If the wrong people got their hands on this they could take down whole governments. I like to just check things out, but not everyone does."

Tony shook his head. "No, of course not. This is only for personal use. I have a competitors I'd like to get a glance at. I'm pretty sure they're trying to steal my blueprints, but since they don't have the right technology, it isn't working out very well."

"Ok," Lucas responded, sounding troubled and started to chew his lip.

"Hm?" Tony didn't turn, still inspecting the program.

"Well, uh… I was just wondering, why are you trusting me with this? I mean, I know who you are, and most everyone seems to think you're ok. But, I'm just a kid who broke into your system."

Tony nodded, and turned to face him. "I was waiting for that question."

"And?"

"And… and you seem like a good kid."

Lucas wrinkled his nose, "That's it? You're teaching me to hack into any system and not leave a trail, just because you think I'm a good kid?"

"Well, basically… but not really." Tony shrugged, turning back to his protection.

"You lost me."

Tony sighed, "it's hard to explain. But, usually, when you show someone trust, and give them responsibility, they want to show you they deserve it. It's like respect, if you give it out, you get it back. I have a feeling you haven't had much of either of those."

"Huh," Lucas grunted, "that's pretty deep. I thought you were all about pretty girls and fast cars."

"Well, that too."

"Speaking of pretty girls…" Lucas murmured, then flushed deeply as a red headed woman pressed the code to the shop and entered.

"Don't even try it." Tony snorted, after he turned to see who was coming. "Pepper, this is Lucas, the young man who broke into Jarvis."

Pepper nodded, and set a box on the table. "Let me know next time you do it, Lucas, I'll tell you where the good stuff is hidden." After flashing a smile at the still blushing teen, she pointed to the box. "Happy ordered pizza, are you guys hungry?"

"Does it go with scotch?" Tony asked, refilling his glass. "Oh, who am I kidding? Everything goes with scotch." He flipped open the box and slid it towards Lucas. "Grab a slice, we can eat upstairs."

"Hey!" Pepper called after them. "You could take the box so you don't grease everywhere!" Seeing that they were already out of earshot, or pretending to be, she just shook her head in mild annoyance. "Great, because Tony isn't already just a bored teenager."

Tony settled on the couch, and picked up a tablet computer resting on the end table. "What kind of games do you like?"

"Games?" Lucas asked, after swallowing a bite of pizza. "Like video games?"

"Uh, yeah," he started to chuckle after he caught Lucas' surprised expression. "You didn't think I played? Hell, the suit itself is practically a video game."

"No, I guess I just never really thought about it. I don't play them."

Tony nearly dropped the tablet in surprise. "You don't? I thought you were all things computer."

"Yeah, but they always seemed too easy for me." Lucas shrugged and went back to eating.

"Too easy? Wait, when was the last time you played? And what was it?"

Lucas paused, "um, I think I was like six? It was… uh… Dark Souls. I beat it really fast, but no one I told at school believed me so it just kind of pissed me off."

"You… you beat Dark Souls when you were six? Holy crap! Who let you play that?" Tony stared him with shocked eyes.

He shrugged again, "my babysitter. I was supposed to be sleeping and I heard her cursing at it. So I got up and helped her. Well, she fell asleep as I was playing, and I beat it."

Tony was still staring at him, now pouting. "But, I didn't even beat that."

"Do you want me to reprogram it so it's harder? It might be more fun then." Lucas asked grinning mischievously.

"You know," Tony narrowed his eyes, "even games you can beat easy can be fun. Like I said, you need a hobby." He tapped a button on his tablet and an intro-screen started. "Maybe you were just too young to appreciate it."

Lucas laughed, "ok, I'll give it a try." Tony tossed him a controller, and tapped another button on the tablet. Loud music started to play in the room, Lucas started moving to the beat right away. "Hey, this is an awesome song!"

"There, two new hobbies, video games and music. Now you don't have to work all the time."

"Yeah, yeah, come on old man, I need to teach you how to play this."

* * *

Early the next morning, Pepper picked her way through the mess of junk food and soda cans littering the floor. She shook her head at the two males sprawled on the couches as music blared, and a hapless NPC was being destroyed over and over in the intro movie of the game. "Boys," she muttered, "they just never grow up."

* * *

"Come on, please?"

"No, don't whine at me."

"I'm not whining, just think of how much of a reputation I could get."

"Yeah, until I tell them I saved you from a tree, like a kitten."

"You wouldn't!"

"I would."

Lucas huffed and set down the soldering iron with a scowl. "Like you've never used the suit to get girls before."

"I don't need it to get girls. And you aren't asking to wear it. I am _not_ flying you back to school."

"Could I wear it?"

"Even less of a chance. Keep working on that circuit."

"Damn it."

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted the spat, "I'd like to remind you of the precedent. You flew that young lady back to her sorority house when you…"

"Jarvis! Mute!"

* * *

"Stay out of trouble, kid." Tony smirked, "and remember what we talked about."

"The best kinds of scotch? Or the finding people worth trusting thing?" Lucas shot back, leaning on side of the limo.

Tony nodded, "both I guess." He reached over and ruffled the mop of blonde hair.

"Hey, I'm working on a style. You're messing it up." He protested, backing out Tony's reach.

"Yeah, your style is 'straight out of bed, where's my caffeine?'"

"Basically." Lucas grinned easily, but it started to slip, and he chewed his lip. "Thanks, it was only a couple of days, but I meant a lot to me."

Tony nodded, and narrowed his eyes, "don't get mushy on me, kid."

"I feel like people are going to call me kid for the rest of my life." Lucas groaned. He smirked again, and after a moment's hesitation, launched himself at Tony with a tight hug. "Thanks."

Rather than admit how much the moment surprised him, and not wanting to embarrass himself or the teen, Tony grabbed him a rough but playful wrestling hold. "Get out of here, kid, you're going to miss your flight."

Lucas squirmed away, laughing. "I don't think that's possible." He grabbed his backpack from Happy and jogged to the plane. "I'll hack you if I have any questions!" He yelled from the door, before waving and vanishing from sight.

"Happy, make a note please." Tony sighed after climbing into the car. "If he isn't snapped by some high powered company right out of school, we need to hire him."

"I think Pepper already had that plan." Happy called back as he turned the ignition. "Hm," he blinked in confusion when nothing happened. He tried again, and the engine roared to life. "Ok there we… what the…?"

Tony let out a shout of laughter as a song started playing loudly. "He Rick-Rolled me! That little brat!"

"I can't get it to stop!" Happy growled, pounding at the radio, frustrated that his boss was so amused.

"Yeah, I and I can't open the doors." Tony reported, still chuckling. "I think we have to just wait it out."

Happy slumped in his seat with his ears covered, "I really hate this song."

"Everyone does, that's the point." Tony watched the jet take off and waved. But after a moment, the wave became a one finger salute. "Damn minors."


End file.
